Consoles are usually BETTER for getting people into gaming.

[RhombusHatesYou]

I think a lot of PC gamers have been so into their platform of choice for so long that they can't relate to the fact that many of us don't really understand computers beyond surface-level tasks.

Yeah but on the other hand how many people bother to try to relate to, for example, the amount of effort many PC gamers put into acquiring whatever knowledge they do have? Or at least relate to why they might have bothered doing so?

How is that relevant to the topic at hand?

Point was raised that getting in PC gaming can be somewhat opaque and PC gamers can be disinterested in the problems of newcomers. I was simply raising the counterpoint that this 'relating' between groups isn't a one way street.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

A Pc is much more expensive if you want to use it for gaming because that would require gaming upgrades, so a gaming pc costs more than a console. A Pc is also allot more technical what with the installations, graphics settings, configurations and assembling the machine with the proper components etc, so it's obvious here that the most technical, the most expensive and the most hardcore of the platforms should not be a good place to start when you want to get people to start gaming as a hobby.

A console seems allot simpler and friendlier to newbies and seems allot less hardcore because you are just laying down on a couch in front of the TV which is a much more familiar icon of leisure than an office chair with a computer.

Like any hobby, start cheap and simple.

- Pc gamer with a monster rig here, by the way.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Load Windows
Load Solitare
Leave Them
Later, ask them if they want to play something different.
????
Profit

???? = 'pick their pockets while they're still engrossed with solitaire'

I never directly said that...

And introducing them to gaming, while not appearing to...is often the best way.

Let's face it, most images of gaming are people screaming over MarioKart/CoD or similar...

How about starting with a nice game of cards?

And once they learn to use the mouse? Flower...or Crayon Physics

Then maybe something a little faster, like Plants versus Zombies or Peggle.

And then...[sub]They're Yours[/sub]

 

[DaJoW]

OK, so buy it in a shop. Really, if you've used iTunes, you'd be fine. Steam has a much cleaner interface than the PS3 or its store, incidentally.

Also: contrary to popular belief, PC games don't have this amazingly huge chance of crapping out on you. Likewise, consoles aren't impervious to it.

Sure console games aren't always going to work but let's be realistic about the odds of that. You'll see a console game not work, what, maybe 1% of the time? On the PC even if we're generous and say that a standard PC game will not work without extra work on a standard non gamers PC maybe a low ball of 5% of the time, that's still a huge difference. Remember, to a non gamer any extra work, or even the threat of it, has the potential to be a huge turn off.

Also, maybe it's different where you live, but where I live (Canada) you don't really find PC games prominently displayed in stores. You walk into even a dedicated game store and, while faced with a world of choices for any console or handheld, the PC section is tiny and either only has the biggest/newest titles or has the good stuff mixed in with shovelware I wouldn't force on my worst enemy. Going into a store here and looking for a PC game is almost an advertisement to not buy a PC game at all.

I have a Fujitsu laptop. It's nothing special. I've had it for 18 months and have gamed exclusively on it and I've never had a problem with a game not working. Before that, I used crappy custom-built machine. Never had a problem (except for Grim Fandango which had some glitches - and how many modern consoles can play games from '98?). Before that, I had a Dell. Never had a problem. I have never had a problem with a game not installing on my computer. Is it possible to have these problems? Yes. Is it anywhere near likely with a fairly modern computer and a fairly modern game (barring extremes like Crysis)? No.

No, its use in browsing the internet, in word processing, that is what its natural in. Menu and text based uses. If you carry it over to a non-menu-and-text based game - a shooter, a platformer, an open world game, a non-mmo-rpg - that muscle memory actively works against them. They flounder, trying to apply incompatable instincts. I've seen it before.

And I've seen people spend an hour trying to figure out the layout and then the controls of a gamepad, and then giving up. I guess consoles and PC's are equal on this point.

 

[veloper]

A Pc is much more expensive if you want to use it for gaming because that would require gaming upgrades, so a gaming pc costs more than a console. A Pc is also allot more technical what with the installations, graphics settings, configurations and assembling the machine with the proper components etc, so it's obvious here that the most technical, the most expensive and the most hardcore of the platforms should not be a good place to start when you want to get people to start gaming as a hobby.

A console seems allot simpler and friendlier to newbies and seems allot less hardcore because you are just laying down on a couch in front of the TV which is a much more familiar icon of leisure than an office chair with a computer.

Like any hobby, start cheap and simple.

- Pc gamer with a monster rig here, by the way.

If you really want cheap and simple: almost everyone nowadays has a PC that can play older(2D) games without a hitch.
Let newcomers DL some 10 year old classics then, before you ask them to shell out for a new console.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I think a lot of PC gamers have been so into their platform of choice for so long that they can't relate to the fact that many of us don't really understand computers beyond surface-level tasks.

Yeah but on the other hand how many people bother to try to relate to, for example, the amount of effort many PC gamers put into acquiring whatever knowledge they do have? Or at least relate to why they might have bothered doing so?

How is that relevant to the topic at hand?

Point was raised that getting in PC gaming can be somewhat opaque and PC gamers can be disinterested in the problems of newcomers. I was simply raising the counterpoint that this 'relating' between groups isn't a one way street.

Yeah, but, I hope I'm not sounding agressive or dismissive or anything, but saying "those new gamers don't respect what PC gamers had to do without" doesn't really matter when we're talking about the problems new gamers have.

Except I wasn't saying that.

I was saying if newcomers want to be 'related to' then maybe they should make something of an attempt going the other way instead of getting pissy when they don't immediately get what they want. Fact is, it takes time to learn this stuff and throwing a hissy fit the first time you can't get your head around something straight off the bat isn't going to impress anyone.

I mean I've had times when asking someone to clarify a question they asked resulted in them retyping the exact same question in all caps... and, after several attempts to get a coherent picture of what the actual problem is, getting told I'm 'fucking useless'. That's an hour well spent in anyone's book.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Load Windows
Load Solitare
Leave Them
Later, ask them if they want to play something different.
????
Profit

???? = 'pick their pockets while they're still engrossed with solitaire'

I never directly said that...

No, it's what I'd do.


Actually, I don't think I've ever directly or intentionally introduced someone to gaming. I've got no interest in trying to 'convert' people to my hobbies. Most people I know are already gamers or whose main interests aren't really compatible with gaming... or I just don't like them and want to minimise all interaction with them.

 

[LordLundar]

It's not the system that's important, because any system without software is nothing more than a box with circuit boards hooked up to a screen. What matters is the games and the person, and that answer can be as variable as there are games out there.

For example, if someone is big into anime, I'd probably recommend an older JRPG or anything from Atlus and Nippon Ichi, though I'd probably avoid Disgaea as a starting game. Subsequently, an armchair quarterback style would probably get Madden handed to them, while ones big in analytical would get Football manager. Only area would I would press harder into interests is Military people, as I'm not sure that they would want people shooting at them during their off time. But people looking to be the next Patton style I'd steer them over to strategy, while people looking to be an action hero I'd send them over to the shooter genre.

There's no universal "best game" to get people into gaming, despite what people say. A game might be labelled "best of the genre" but if a person doesn't like it, they're not going to enjoy it and more likely walk away from gaming altogether. Once you figure out what they like and figure out some games to fit, THEN you can work out the system to get.

 

[Cowabungaa]

YES. Even little kids know how to type on a keyboard so they KNOW where all the buttons are. Same for the mouse, you know how to control it so it's simple to get into aiming and controlling. A controller with its analog sticks and shoulder buttons is a completely different concept.

Look, just try it in real life with someone, all right. Give some non-gamer a keyboard&mouse game and then give them a controller which they've never used. You'll see.

They know where everything is for typing. Keybinds in games a completely different story. On a gamepad there aren't many options where something is bind to, this is often very different for the PC.

 

[EradiusLore]

well of course its easier to get into, i have a friend who has been a console gamer for years and i have slowely got him onto steam and playing PC games. and i can tell you out of my 18 years of PC gaming its been the hardest challange possible teaching this guy how to work a PC game. it takes skill and know how to get PC games running properly (or modding said games) and because most people dont have much knowledge in those areas it means console is the only choice. does that mean console games are in some way better? absolutely not

 

[KiKiweaky]

No doubt, computers are sort of hidden away in cubby holes in most houses, you know that desk in the dark corner away from the light... I know mine is. Most of my friends are allergic to my computer and quite frankly arent interested in what I'm doing on it, if it was a console they would be paying attention I bet.

Consoles are much more sociable imo, cod zombies when drinking is awesome. Even when theres 6 or 7 people over hehe had a god laugh with it a few weeks ago.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

snip

i TOLD you it was anecdotal evidence. from my experience, there hasn't been a single person that's been MORE turned off by gaming because of a violent game. usually the ones playing farmville and "the price is right" all day on facebook are actually more INCLINED to play more "core" games when they see something over the top and full of freedom and spectacle.

Starcraft bores them. Believe me, I've tried.
So does Fallout, Minecraft (really, minecraft doesn't win any hearts because of how you have to make your own fun), and generally PC-centric games of slow pace or pitch-perfect skills.

Now Mass Effect? Prototype? Crackdown? Saints Row 2? Just Cause 2? they all provide quick, explosive, and instant spectacle, and from what I've seen (again, it's only anecdotal, you didn't need to go off accusing me of being someone who finds PCs "too hard") with my friends and family, the hearts and minds are almost immediately drawn to when i transform into a random lady on the street then proceed to pick someone up, run up the empire state building, and piledrive them onto a helicopter before shapeshifting again and hijacking another helicopter in mid-air.

That's what they want to see. That's what they want to do. Micro-managing, long, drawn-out, meticulously planned battle strategy games won't provide the same "OH MY GOD! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" factor as a console-centric game can usually provide (from my experience).

Again, I was merely postulating something, not trying to lay down a law, so before you go off and accuse someone ELSE of "getting fired because computers are too complicated" you should actually read, analyze, and THINK before posting.

You're getting very over-emotional about something no one really argues about.

i don't see how any part of my post was "emotional". i was merely postulating something and trying to see what others thought of it.

but it seems the only way to get REAL discussion here on the escapist is to make it SEEM emotional

besides, your post is completely off-topic

 

[Racecarlock]

I just wish Treblaine would stop preaching to me about the wonders of the PC mouse when it comes to FPS gaming. I swear the way he writes is like a christian man preaching to a jew about the wonders of Christianity and the Christian god or something. I aim perfectly fine in FPS games with my gamepad, and I am tired of having to defend that position.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

And Berenstain Bears is better to get people used to reading than Steinbeck.

I kid, I kid, I enjoy console gaming as well. I feel like there's just this sorta feeling that you don't use someone else's computer, though. I would be much more uncomfortable asking to game on another person's laptop than on their xbox.

 

[Rayne870]

How to set up a console:
1. Buy it
2. Plug it in
3. Press Power
4.Pop in disc and enjoy

How to set up PC:
1. Buy parts (or in new person, buy whole PC)
2. Plug in
3. Press Power
4. Set up
5. Pop in disc
6. Install
7. Wait

Im trying to minimize bias.

Even if you tihnk PC is better, its not simpler, and that isa huge part of a console's appeal. Ofcourse, that does not make us automatically simple minded. (despite anything Bioware says or thinks or markets)

You forgot hope for PC compatibility with drivers and hardware.

OT: Consoles in most cases have the advantage of comfort and familiarity due to being able to sit on a usually very comfortable couch, in front of your usually awesome tv hooked up to a great sound system. Where most people have their pcs located on an uncomfortable desk with and uncomfortable chair and both are usually far from ergonomic as well as sort of an afterthought to the room layout so they are stuck in a corner somewhere.

Consoles get an edge there for being more casual in that sense. More often than not you can play co-op on the same console to ease your friend into gaming, and let's be honest what is better than sitting with your chum showing them a new game while playing with them on your favorite couch and so on?

I also tend to feel overloaded with pc games as they have more buttons and exploit that fact by having much more complex controls, this is comparing spell rotations in WoW to much easier things like Fable III, one button for melee, one for shoot, one for spells.

That said I use all consoles and my pc, I tend to favor pcs for RTS games and FPS due to what I feel is greater response and precision from my gaming mouse. Everything third person and rpg I tend to pick up on consoles just because it works better for me.

Don't forget to appeal to price range, if they have a decent computer try that before showing them a console that they will have to buy.

After all of that most of it is just about what games you start people with, you can't just throw Fallout at someone and expect them to like gaming because of it.

 

[Baby Eater]

I actually agree with you, consoles are generally an easier way to get into gaming. But...

And the 2% that are PC-centric? they've been that way long before i was born (they're pretty old).

Ou... Ouch. That hurts! I not that old, jeez. I'm not even old, mid 20's doesn't count as old, does it?

Well, you're a few years older than me (19) so apparently I'm too young to play PC *Deletes entire steam library*